419 High St (former Daniel's clothing store) (Morgantown, Daniels: 2014, apartment, city hall)

[adam36]

The future of this site has been in question, at first folks thought the Daniel's crew was going to put up an apartment building, later the thought is that it might be retrofitted for a Starbucks.

Although we cannot yet answer with certainty, it seems that the Morgantown Planning Commission is set to review a Type III site plan for the address (419 High St) at their next meeting (which was originally 2/13/14, but cancelled due to weather). This will likely reveal the plan for the site. Given this vague information, my guess is that CT is correct, that the owners are planning to upgrade the site with new construction, unless there is another reason that they would be having to go to the planning commission (maybe to put in a drive thru window along the parking lot? seems very unlikely, but I don't know if they own a lane of traffic along the building).

[elewis7]

Since the meeting was cancelled due to weather, they haven't put the full application online as of yet. However, I Googled the filing title and found that the City started making a PC/BZA map of locations of requests (just started this month, apparently). From that, it gave a few more details:


S14-02-III, CU14-01, V14-06 thru V14-11 / Saul Radman / 419 High Street

Lisa Mardis of Project Management Services, on behalf of Saul Radman, has submitted the following application that will be considered by the Planning Commission on Thursday, February 13, 2014 at 6:30 PM in City Council Chambers, City Hall, 389 Spruce Street:
· S14-02-III............................ Development of Significant Impact Site Plan.
Additionally, the following petitions will be considered by the Board of Zoning Appeals on Wednesday, February 19, 2014 at 6:30 PM in City Council Chambers, City Hall, 389 Spruce Street:

Case No. V14-06: Variance relief from maximum residential density standard provided in Article 1349.07. (Awesome)
Case No. CU14-01: Conditional use approval to reduce the number of required parking spaces as provided in Article 1365.04(P)(2). (I'm always cool with less surface parking)
Case No. V14-07: Variance relief from minimum parking requirement provided in Article 1349.08(A). (See above)
Case No. V14-08: Variance relief from minimum rear setback standard provided in Article 1349.04(A)(5). (Taller building and a larger footprint. I'll take it!)
Case No. V14-09: Variance relief from maximum lot coverage standard provided in Article 1349.03(D). (See above)
Case No. V14-10: Variance relief from minimizing canyon effects created by tall structures provided in Article 1351.01(I). (This relates to the fact that it will go from 5 stories of that building to one story in the adjacent lot. I think we'll manage)
Case No. V14-11: Variance relief from minimum bicycle storage standard provided in Article 1349.08(C). (Well, can't win 'em all...)
A map is enclosed illustrating the location of the subject site.

Project Description:
The petitioner seeks to construct a five-story building on the former Daniel’s Men’s Clothing Store site. The proposed building will include approximately 4,600 sq. ft. of undetermined retail space on the ground floor and four stories above that will include twenty (20) mixed-use dwelling units with a total of thirty-six (36) occupants. The Planning Commission is required to review and approve the site plan as a Development of Significant Impact because it contains more than eleven (11) dwelling units. The proposed development program requires conditional use and variance approvals by the Board of Zoning Appeals as presented above.


Once the full application is posted online, there will be maps and renderings for everyone to view, FYI. Also, I only see two down sides to this project. First, the retail component will probably be Starbucks. I'm all for competition economically, but the fact is that Morgantown (especially downtown) has plenty of options for coffee and doesn't need another addition, much less a corporate behemoth. I'm also quite partial to Blue Moose, so there is some bias there. Secondly, the building will cover the (albeit a little deteriorated) mural of downtown that's on the adjacent building. Maybe they could repaint it on the new one?

[CTMountaineer]

I only know that the younger Daniels told me personally they were building a residential building on the site. That does not preclude using the ground floor for other commercial enterprise though. If it is anoter Starbucks, so be it. The fittest survive. I like the Blue Moose too. I have a hunch they will survive regardless of what goes in there.

One more thing to note... the Daniels folks have been hanging around there a very long time. I have a hunch they have enough political connections to be able to put whatever they want in there. Regardless of ones view on what that should be, personally I do not put much stock into wise decisions being made at the city government level. Our wonderful city thrives in spite of being led by bozos, not because of them. An example... I actually had to get rid of my air rifles when I moved back here due to a stupid ordinance against them. I understand the desire to stop vandalism, but you would think the brain trust would put in exceptions for people with hunting licenses over 18 years of age. Now I am literally forced to target practice with far stronger ammunition if I want to keep my aim sharp, and I am not permitted to hunt with air rifle out in the country because I can't legally keep one in my own home.